Amie

He might walk even more with this being his first playoff game....sort of like what happened to Dempster. Overwhelmed by it all.

Micah gets the start against the Brewers tomorrow. Seems Lou was indeed very impressed.. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080925&content_id=3548771&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

He sure did get squeezed, but he needs to stop letting that into his head. I wonder how much not having Geo behind the plate is showing up? Geo seems to handle him so well. I mean Henry knows him forever, but Geo seems to have a magic touch with Z these days. That's no excuse of course, but just a thought.

Sounds like Berkman might finally be coming to grips with reality, at least from what he has said in this article. Dated earlier this morning. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/ballz/2008/09/astrospirates_better_to_be_luc.php

Let's see. Mark DeRosa is a very good hitter and a tremendous defensive 3B + Mike Fontenot is a very good hitter and a competent defensive 2B = Casey McGehee should never play again Sorry, but your not getting the meaning of my post. Which is....why keep playing Aramis, who is not fielding well, and slumping. Why risk having him injured further, or having more errors when you have other options.???

Probably to replace Jon Leiber. http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/465268.html

I did read in one of the news reports that Aram was battling a tight quad. So what I don't get is why they keep playing him? Do they want it to get worse or what? His defense is clearly showing it already. Is Casey MacGee that bad of a 3rd baseman that they can't afford to try him there, even for a day or two? Cinny was a perfect time...yet nothing.

Well, they definitely have options now. They can cut him and bring up another player with his 40 man spot. They can DL him, and then sneak another player onto the playoff roster using his spot. Or, they could decide they don't need either of those things and do nothing. That wording of that sentence is really strange though. He returned home and "informed" the general manager that he couldn't pitch anymore? That screams that something is going on behind the scenes. Sure does, and it goes really well with Randy Wells being called up from Iowa today, ready to be activated in St Louis. http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/465268.html I wish Jon well though, as he's a great guy, doing all he can to help the Cubs.

"Blowing resources" implies that Roberts is a bad player and that anyone would have been able to predict that the Cubs would have been able to trade for Harden like they did AND that DeRosa would have a career year. And most people here thought the Orioles were expecting/asking for way too much for Roberts even when they just waned to see the deal done. Not trashing anyone here. But I wonder if anyone here realizes that this may have been the first year in DeRosa's career that he's really been truly healthy? If you recall he had a heart arrhythmia since he was 16 years old. A problem he finally had surgically corrected with the Ablation surgery he had during spring training. Rather then this being a career year for DeRosa we may find out this is more like the real guy, the healthy guy. As far as team chemistry goes, and to me that means a lot. I think Mark having a spot at 2nd base, even though he doesn't mind playing anywhere to help out, is a winner for this team. That way it keeps Fontenot's bat fresh, and allow him playing time to.

I always suspected that old Ned was helping CC get big money next year. Well before whatever team signs him does, they really should check out exact who he beat and the circumstances. I happened to see this NY Times article, where they discuss pitching young guys too many inning. They also bring up CC and the inning he is racking up, and interview Ned Yost on it. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/sports/baseball/05pitchers.html I check out the list of teams he actually defeated. A Card team that does not hit lefties. Atlanta without Chipper and McCann both on the shelf, and Tex already with the Angels. Other then that he beat San Fran, Wash, Pitts, once, they chased him the first time. The Cubs chased him too. He did beat Houston before they got hot. He did not pitch against the Mets, because he was wasted pitching against Pittsburgh, on that silly "one hitter". Oh yes he beat Cinny to. But gosh he was not there to pitch against the Cards a second time. Never pitched against Philly, Arizona, LA, The Rockies, or the Mets. Some of the best hitting and pitching teams in the NL. Don't get me wrong CC is a fabulous pitcher, but all this talk that he should when the CY for all these wins to me needs to be really looked at. Also to me a manger who is out to help pad a players future salary is just not really good for baseball.

Yep, after all they have to write something. Nothing positive to say these days, so lets exploit and blow up any negative you can find. Z wasn't feeling well by that point, didn't he take himself out right after that? Z was wrong, but The Riot really dogged on that play for sure. That arm of his is not helping us.

But Rich also said this in an cubs.com article today. I don't think Lou is happy that he is forced to deal with Rich's schedule from Oakland, but his last start clearly showed that he needed a rest. He has been pitched hard lately, and at this point there is no need to panic at least. The Cubs knew what they were getting, but right now with Guadin unavailable, and Z down the pitching situation is thin. Lou is stressing, just as we are.

They can manage without Big Z as long as Lou shakes up that batting order some. I mean really shake it up. Try DeRosa in the 3 hole, and get D Lee out of there. I love D Lee, but the man is a walking double play and he can't handle pressure at the plate this year. He looked silly tonight. Him and Aramais both need some time off. As soon as Big Z left with the sore arm their bats went dead again. They need to pull themselves together again. Big Z may just need to rest that arm some, as he has probably just been overcompensating. I hope so at least.

They are but then they are managed by Dusty Lite. Yost and the Brewers know that neither Sabathia nor Sheets will be back next year with both being free agents. What do they care if they ruin their arms? A manager who doesn't care is always dangerous. If Yost had any brains, it would be even worse...LOL

Looks to me like Ned is helping CC pad his stats for the new contract with all these complete games, against teams that the bull pen could easily handle. In exchange, Ned is looking after him and doing his bidding, all along thinking he won't wear out. Not caring about next year. But Neds not making any friends around the league with all this whining and complaining that's for sure. There is no way CC or Ned should expect or even think that call will be reversed. They never are, especially not for a manager who goes around wanting to squash every team he can. He needs to win series at this point, not take away a single hit from Pittsburgh. Ned is confused as usual. That got him in trouble last year... [-X

I think some of you guys are totally missing the point on this article. The point of the article isn't to highlight that there are people who hate the cubs. Basically, the writer is making a case to support his opinion that all of the haters (the few of them that there are) are irrational, there's no rational reason to hate the cubs. He's not slamming Ryno because three people hate him or anything like that at all. I caught that point, in fact there was no single valid reason mentioned. Perhaps some of these writers should be more clear in that, rather then gather more readers just by mentioning the Cubs as a hated fan base. Many of these smaller markets just eat that up.

I've been to Colorado a lot, and I don't think that's true. That place is loaded with ex-Chicagoans and Cubs fans, and by and large Rockies and Cubs fans get along very well. Cubs fans are not hated in NY. They are sort of grudgingly respected for dealing with the crap they deal with, and I've heard several teams NYers say they'd like to see the Cubs win. Boston is similar. Atlanta and Florida don't count, since they don't have any fans. I listen to WFAN out of NY a lot because they talk a lot about baseball. One of their hosts is a huge Cub fan, Adam the Bull, so he talks us up a lot. But many of the callers have said that if the Mets don't make it into the playoffs, they'll be rooting for the Cubs. A few Yankee fans too. In some cities the fans hate us for silly reasons. The worst one I've heard is because pure jealousy. We had WGN all these years to watch games on TV, all over the country, so to many fans that was unfair. Card fans are especially bad for that, but I've heard a few others say it too. They think we only follow the Cubs because they were on TV all the time. Very lame.... :scratch:

The Brewer pen is nasty and gives up way too many HR's. While their offense is lost unless they hit the HR. Ben Sheets went a complete game shut out yesterday, just so he could compete with CC. He has not even won since July, let alone stayed that long in a game. They are really pushing it, all so they don't have to use that bull pen. :eek:

New piece from today, very nice. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=444241

I don't understand why we need to wait for next year on Micah, with Ward doing nothing. Hoff can hit anything, and this year Ward looks lost at the plate. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080810&content_id=443942&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

What blows my mind about the people in St Louis is that they follow what Sports Columnist Bernie Miklisz tells them, as if he was sent from the man upstairs. Whatever he tells them to think or stay, they do. It's downright silly, the place reminds me of a remake of the Stepford Wives...do as your told people, fall in line. The kid even mentions Bernie in the You Tube rant..LOL

I agree Ward is toast, though I have a feeling Lou is afraid that Hoff might not be able to do the pinch hit thing to well. I say give him a try, he can't be any worse then what Ward id giving us. Ward makes me sick this year

Talking as if moving a stubborn starter to the pen is easy is just foolish. Marshall is very flexible and has proven that he can easily adapt to any roll, so he is far more valuable then Marquis. Marquis on the other hand "thinks" he is a starter, and he has already pitched a fit at the mere mention of him pitching out of the pen. He likely will not try anything else, or do well at anything else, and why on earth would you try to make this sort of change in the midths of a playoff run? It is fight not worth getting into with him. They will likely dump him and his contract over the winter. For the record, he has actually had some pretty darn good road games in recent week. In a couple he gave up no runs at all. However, got no runs in support. At least he seems to be a little better in the second half then he usually is......but hopefully he will be long gone some next year.

The main thing is to win more games then anyone else in the National League. That way no matter what we can have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. For the Cubs that is key. The teams feels good at home, and plays and scores their best at Wrigley.

It seems to me that since he came off the DL this last time, even Sori is more selective at the plate. It maybe because he is seeing the ball so well, but he is not swinging at every ball, and he often goes deep into counts. The first of the year he didn't do that, even when the other guys where. But it might be that he spent all that time watching, and saw what a bit of plate discipline could achieve. Hoping this thread doesn't jinx his hot streak...